Apparatus for transferring freight



d' d' l sept. 1e, 1930. B, F, HTCH 1,175,056

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING FREIGHT V1 er. 1

alibi/Huf! Sept. 16, 1930. B. F. FITCH 1,776,066

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING FREIGHT` Filed Nov. 26, 1928 2 Shetsf-Sheet 2'lef Qwuawcc-w ammi Patented Sept. 16, 1930 l y .UNITED STATES PATENToFF/VICE.,

ydeposited on the vehicle.

vnninnivrnv F. FITCH, or GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, AssrGNon To MOTOR`TERMINALS COMPANY,r OF W'ILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATIQN 0F DELAWAREAPPARATUS Fon TRANSFERRING FREIGHT Application filled ovember 26, 1928.Serial No. 321,833.

This invention relates to a freight handling system wherein demountablebodiesV are provided which are adapted to be transporte-d by a vehicleto a'transfer point and there removed with the'contained load from thevehicle,` andl thereafter another loaded body As such bodies to beefficient must be of considerable size,

' some hoisting land transporting mechanism VVvery simple vand efficientform so arranged is essential for removing or replacing the loaded body.My invention is moreparticularly concerned with the transfer of body lto.andfrom freight cars of electric interurban lines having overheadtrolley wires, and it is an object of the invention to provide hoistingand transporting mechanism of that it'may readily move load supportingcables across the space beneath the trolley vrwire, and which may-beinstalled at comparatively small expense. Y

" My invention contemplates a superstruc- Y ture located adjacent theside of the railway track and having an overhead trackway Lon which is a'traveling crane. This traveling `crane is Aso constructed thatit mayproject Y. on one side into the space above the car body trolley wire.l

`and beneath the trolley wire and thus allow the body to be engaged andlifted and transported' fto one side without disturbing the My cranepreferably has four depending 'cables located at the four corners ofV arectangle and when the cranek is in position'for removing a body fromthe electric car or A depositing one thereon, two of these Vcables willbe beyond the verticalrplane beneath the trolley wire. The Vportion ofthe crane however on' which such cables are mounted 1s so arranged thatvit will 'not interfere in any* manner with the trolley wire.

tutes the main feature of myinventionv as hereinafter more fullyexplained, and as summarized in the claims. f

In the drawings, F1g.` 1 1s an elevation, transversely of an electricrailway track, of

ig. 3 is a plan ofthe installation, thek roof being omitted.

a cab C `be provided with This constiframe 23, Land the raising `Asshown inthe drawings, A represents an electric railway track, B' theusual 'suspended trolley wire therefor,and C an elelctric liat caradapted to travel on such rails by electric power. This Vflat car `mayhave anda trolley pole cL'- Dv indicates the removable body, which maylbe mounted on the lia-t car in the rear of the cab. `This bodyispreferably of such size that it jmay also readily fit on vanautomobile truck" (as indicated at E in Fig. l) so that the body may beinterchanged as desired between the truck and flat car. K The body maybe provided with suitablevdoors d, and at the eaves with hooks or eyes dor other means for attachmentof raising cables. f 'i 'f' VAs shown inthedrawings, thesuperstructure is located at one side of the ytruck andextends over the track. As shown,such`sup`er lstructure has uprightposts '10,suitable cross beams' 11 .andi tie members 12,and may also aroof 13,. The superstructure also carries a pair.y of crane trackwaysextending from one side to the other. These trackways are shownasfinwardly facingg channel beams 15 carried by brackets 16 secured toposts 10.

f The tracks v15S-support traveling crane 20 which .has forward wheels21 and rear wheels 22, all: occupying the grooves of the channels. `Theentire crane frame is arigid unitary structure, shown as comprising vanupper frame 23,V a lower frame 21.1, laterally offset from'v the 'upperframe, and vsuitable vertical struts'25, inclined struts 26 and27gf landdiagonal transverse braci'ng28.A Byrreason of this ylateral offsetarrangement, the

lower frame '24 may be projected intoV the space between-the body Dy andthe trolley wireB, and thus carry the raising cablesSO and V31 intoposition-to engage thefbody.-

- @One end of the lower frame 24 preferably extends beneath theoppositeend of,V the upper cables ,31 fo-r one side of thev carpreferably.. depending from :the lower frame from a region directlybethesuperstructure and my travehng crane;

neath a-pair of supporting `wheels2l carried byy the upper frame. Thusone-half of the loadis supported directly by a downward I pull onthispairofsupportingiwheelsg ',Thev

f gard to Ythe-crane. Whenever itis desiredother pair of raising cablesare supported adjacent the free end of the lower frame 24a The downwardstress of these cables is trans mitted into an upward stress on theopposite end of the upper frame, the whole structure tending to pivotYabout the wheels 2l; thusthe wheel'sf22, when theleradfi's supported bythe cables, bear upwardly against an upper track. By providing upper andlower 'tracks for these wheels 22, 4stress 'is taken whetherl it bedownward or upward. In the interest of simplicity, I provide the sametracks for both sets of wheels, these tracks being shown assimplythefianges of the two channel beams l5. A

Qn the ^lioist-:rame is a suitable raising mechanism operating the .fourlcables as a unit. There is also mechanism for rotating `one orfmoreof'thessupporting wheels,to trol ley the frame. When thecranestandsentirely` at theside ofthe railway track7 as'shown inbreken lines in`-Fig. l, .theftrolley 'car zopcrates throughtheesuperstructurewithoutre- Ahowever to .remove Ya bodyfromrai freightcar :or place-a body thereon, `the crane is simply Atrolleyed laterallytofcome beneath the trol- `ley wire withouttouchingit, 'and it may thenraise or lower the body with reference to `the car. Y Y

While any suitable mechanismmay'beem- `pl'oyefd `on fthe -fcrane `terraising the cables zand-traveling znut y.for thisfpurlpose.

Vasa unit, Ijhave illustrated a rotatable screw the-nut. .'Dhe cables 30and?` Slzp'ass upwardly from their free 'ends foyer sheaves f3??fear-lied by the v'lower frame -o' the hois't, Fand thencefaroundhorizont alfsheaves .138"afnds39 ,fand afre :finally-anchoredtoit'heinut.

Accordingly, the rotation ofthescrew operates vto .raise or 'flowersimultaneously all four of the loadfengaging cables, which may ib'ell'iookedto the hooks 4oreyes otthe body. The screw maybe rotated `byanylsuitaible whereby the crane array be shifted ifalfonfg its track.Both motorsprefferably receive the'ir fcurrent from theitro'lleycircuit. i

- manner without lregard totlffe transfer appai In ordinary operation ofthe'construjction described, the hoist trame'QO is vlocated'inthe` side`positions faslshown in det-ted llines in Fig. l, .and the electric 'car'op'eratejs' 1n Va `normal 'ratus, Nowrwhenfitis desired yto use AAthe4transfer mechanism, to carry a iloaded lbody 4rom a truck forexample-to anempty flat ear,

' Y -'thehoist may ,pick up theload from the truck and'support'ituntilthe flat car arrives while ithetruck may'drive away for' other fduty.

vAfterjthe car has'arrivedjthe thoist is simply "trolleyed -to "theV'other position roverhan'ging This is fbody the car V(as shown in fulllines in Fig. l) and the body deposited on the car, after which thehoist resumes its other position, and the car may proceed on its route.Or if a trolley car with a loaded body is brought into position beneaththe crane trackwayfthe-,crane is then brought to that position and thecables lower''d and connected to the body, andthe body may then beraised by the electric motor 4,0,

and thereafter transported laterally 'by the fmotor 4l. The body isthus-brought to the side of the railroad track, where it may forinstance be'deposited on suitable supports or horsesor on the automobiletruck E indicated in Fig. l. The apparatus is simple in Ythe railwayytraclrin planeshigher than the trolley wire, a truck runway `beneath`the :crane ktracks and Valongside of the 'railway track,V .a'travelingcrane uon [said trackwagys` havingtwo sets kof .supporting wheels andhaving a downwardly Tand laterally extended vforming a fixed part .ofthe crane trame and y'adapted to be projectedbeneath the trolleywire,\tlexib'le raising means on the 'downwardly and .laterallyfextended portion adapted to engagearemoyablefbody on ,a car yon the.railway track whereby said may be Ali-tted from the carand .fsus-.pended from'rthe laterally .extended Lportion of the crane frame,onesetoffwheels carried by thecrane frame ,forming-a pivot, and theother set bearing against 'fthe '..uppernnane ,tracks which take theupward thrust caused vby `downward stress .on the -overhanging por-fktion ofthe rameyandimeans :for transporting the cranewiththebodylateral-W.. j .y y

2. Invan apparat-usci the class descr-ihed, the-combinationeof a.supporting structure, a crane: .trackway r thereon', -a crane .havingan upper frame, aY lower trame laterally4 o'set .from the upper frameandrigid connections `between saidtrames tofmake themfa-runi'trttoursheaves `carried :by :the lower vframeat fthe fou-r. corners et a`frectangle, four raising cables depending .from thelower Aframe yoversaid sheaves, .mechanism mounted on .the up-y per frame vatordrawingrsaid cables upwardly as a unit and supportingthe same, wheelscarried by theupperjfram'e adapted to sup- 'port thefsama-'and atrackway carried :by .the

superstructure for takingthe upward Vthrust Vca-used by downwardfstressvon thef'overhaniging portion of the lower iframe:

`Intestimony whereohlfhereunto aiiix myl signature. .v

' Y :BENJAMIN FITCH.

